


Ringing in my Ears

by earthquaker



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Humor, Implied Adam Parrish/Gansey, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Ronan Lynch is an unreliable narrator, this is honestly so dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27843220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earthquaker/pseuds/earthquaker
Summary: Ronan’s never had a problem living with Gansey before. They’ve lived together for years at this point and getting to hang out with his best friend all the time is awesome. There’s never been a problem that makes Ronan wish he didn’t live with Gansey.Until Gansey starts dating Adam Parrish.A lack of communication leads Ronan to believe that Gansey is dating Adam. And Ronan has a lot of feelings about it, which he keeps to himself.
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 53
Kudos: 329





	Ringing in my Ears

**Author's Note:**

> I had a huge amount of fun writing this, and I hope that you have fun reading it. This is not meant to be serious _at all_. Enjoy!

Ronan’s never had a problem living with Gansey before. They’ve lived together for years at this point and getting to hang out with his best friend all the time is awesome. It’s 3am trips to get orange juice and filling the apartment with the dumbest shit they can find at Dollar City. There’s never been a problem that makes Ronan wish he didn’t live with Gansey.

Until Gansey starts dating Adam Parrish. 

The first Ronan hears about Adam Parrish, is that he’s in Gansey’s Ancient Civilisations discussion group at Grad school. And then it’s ‘ _Adam said this today and it was so funny’_ and _‘Adam had this great idea’_ and _‘I told Adam about that problem with the Pig and he thinks it was the alternator.’_ And all Ronan hears for weeks is Adam, Adam, Adam. And it’s fine, he doesn’t care that Gansey’s got a boyfriend. 

And he knows that Adam is definitely Gansey’s boyfriend, even if Gansey never puts it into actual words. Ronan’s seen Gansey in relationships and he’s seen him make new friends and this is definitely the former. And from the way that Gansey seems to be completely himself around Adam, no mask, no pretending, the relationship seems to be a serious one. Overall, it's all good. He’s happy that Gansey’s met someone he can be himself with and there’s no problem. Until he actually meets Adam.

Adam comes over to the apartment to look at the Pig and he turns up when Ronan and Noah are trying to make a rocket out of a discarded desk chair and a fire extinguisher. Ronan’s sat on the chair at one end of the car park, and when he squeezes the nozzle, the chair does go flying. Unfortunately, so does Ronan and he does not stay on the chair. He’s flung off and he goes skidding across the car park, clutching the sputtering fire extinguisher. He ends up sprawled on the asphalt at Adam’s feet. As first impressions go, it’s not the best.

“My turn, my turn!” shouts Noah, grabbing another fire extinguisher.

“You must be Gansey’s roommate,” Adam says, derisively.

Ronan’s too busy picking gravel out of the grazes on his arms to notice the derision and when he looks up, the hottest guy he’s ever seen in his life is casually leaning against the Pig.

And then Gansey walks up and claps Adam on the back. Realisation hits Ronan like a lightning strike. “Lynch, I do not even want to know where you got those fire extinguishers,” Gansey says. “This is Adam Parrish. Adam, this is Ronan.”

“I figured,” Adam says, dryly. Evidently, Ronan has met his match in standoffishness.

After that though, Adam is at the apartment _all the time._ He comes over with Gansey after classes and they disappear into Gansey’s room more often than not. The walls of the apartment aren’t that thick, and Ronan can hear them in there, talking and laughing. It’s worse when they go quiet though because that means they don’t want Ronan to hear whatever they’re doing in there. When that happens, Ronan goes out and makes a point to slam the door very loudly on his way out. He’s just giving them privacy, he tells himself. That’s what good roommates do.

Because the thing is, he’s not jealous. Definitely not. It’s just that he likes Adam _so much._ He’s got such a dry sense of humour, says the absolute funniest things as casually as if he’s commenting on the weather. He’s got this amazing, warm smile that’s so rare but every time Ronan sees it, it’s all he can do to catalogue whatever it was that made Adam smile like that, so he can make it happen again. When Ronan makes jokes at Gansey’s expense, Adam’s always biting down on his lip to stop himself from laughing. And that’s the thing, Adam is so fond of Gansey and so is Ronan, so as badly as Ronan wishes that he’d met Adam first, he can’t and won’t say anything because he could never hurt Gansey.

*

“Parrish didn’t stay the night?” Ronan asks one morning, while Gansey makes coffee. Adam never seems to stay over.

“No, he did stay pretty late though, and I offered, but he’s got an early shift at the coffee shop he works at. His apartment is closer.”

“Why didn’t you stay there then?” Ronan asks. He knows he’s being nosey but fuck it.

“Well he lives in a studio,” Gansey says, which doesn’t really explain it. “You two should hang out more, I think you’d get on, I really do.”

Ronan frowns. “Yeah, I guess we could hang out.”

“We’re going to that new burger place on Friday. It would be nice if you came too.”

Ronan can’t tell Gansey how he’d rather claw his own eyes out than third wheel on a date with his best friend and his best friend’s boyfriend that he’s got a major crush on. Instead, he flounders for an excuse.

“I don’t like burgers,” Ronan says, stupidly. It’s the first thought that comes to him and he immediately regrets it for how stupid it sounds. He flees before Gansey can call him out on his lie.

*

Ronan’s never actually seen Gansey and Adam kiss, but he figures it’s because they’re both private people. One day though, he comes home, and Adam is asleep on the sofa. He’s got one of Gansey’s stupid knitted throws over him and his feet are in Gansey’s lap. The worst part about it, is the part where Ronan catches Gansey looking at Adam so incredibly fondly. It’s far more intimate than any kiss and Ronan feels like the worst person in the world.

He tells himself that he’ll get over it soon. One day, he’ll be so used to Adam and Gansey being Adam-and-Gansey that he won’t even remember feeling anything inappropriate for Adam.

When Adam wakes up from his nap, he immediately starts apologising. “I am so sorry!” he says to Gansey. “I can’t believe I did that!”

“It’s okay,” Gansey tells him, softly. “We were up late last night, and I know you had an early shift this morning. I don’t mind.”

And then Adam’s smiling at Gansey and they’re just sat there grinning like idiots at each other. Ronan would feel less like he was disturbing something private if he’d walked in on them in bed. And _great,_ now he’s got that thought, front and centre in his mind. If Ronan didn’t shave his head, he’d be tearing his hair out right now.

*

He knows he’s got to act cool around Adam, like they’re just friends and treat him like he’d treat anyone else Gansey dated, which is with mild animosity. If he outright avoids Adam, or goes too far the other way, someone’s going to call him on his bullshit and he’s a terrible liar, he never gets enough practice. If someone asks him how he really feels about Adam, then he’s going to have to move out of the apartment, never speak to Gansey again and probably leave the country.

Of course, the current state of no one other than Gansey talking to him about Adam, is too good to continue. It happens when Noah’s round at the apartment one afternoon and they’re playing a video game. Or rather, Noah is playing the video game. Ronan is trying to find as many creative ways as he can of killing his on-screen avatar.

Apropos of nothing, Noah asks, “What do you think of Adam?” Ronan weighs up his response options.

 _I’m in love with him. Which do you think is better option, Mexico or Canada?_ Is probably overkill. So is agonised screaming. So is _his laugh makes me feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust._ In the end, he goes with, “He’s alright. I’m happy for Gansey.”

“Why are you happy for Gansey?” Noah looks puzzled. Maybe he doesn’t know about Gansey and Adam.

“That’s he dating Adam.”

“Is he? I thought he liked that girl, Blue, from the coffee shop Adam works at? Isn’t that why he hangs out there all the time.”

“He hangs out there all the time because he’s dating Adam.” Gansey’s not said anything to him about a girl.

“Well you live with him, you know.” Noah doesn’t actually sound convinced, but maybe he hasn’t actually _seen_ Adam and Gansey together. He’d know if he did.

*

“We’re going paintballing this weekend,” Gansey tells him. “You’re invited too.”

“Who is we?” If it’s just him, Gansey and Adam there’s no way he’s going.

“Me, Adam,” Gansey starts. Ronan prepares his excuses. He’s got to do better than “ _I don’t like burgers.”_ “Noah, and a couple of the people from the coffee shop Adam works at.”

Gansey’s looking at him eagerly, so he says, “fine. But I’m not being on the same team as you.”

*

Gansey and Ronan had planned get fast food before they went paintballing and Ronan was under the impression that it was going to be just them. On the way though, they pick up Adam. Ronan’s just about to bite into his delicious, greasy burger when Adam pipes up from across the table “I thought you didn’t like burgers.”

Ronan flips him off. Adam kicks him under the table and before Ronan’s thought about it he kicks Adam back. Gansey doesn’t notice though, he’s too busy picking the gherkins out of his burger and putting them in Adam’s. Adam’s foot hooks around Ronan’s ankle. Ronan feels sick, but when Adam smirks mischievously at him, the sickness turns to butterflies. And then turns back into more sickness. He pulls his feet away from Adam.

The drive to the paintball after that isn’t long but Ronan spends it in sulky silence. Gansey keeps shooting him anxious glances, but Adam ignores him and chats away to Gansey about their assignment on ancient Mesopotamia.

When they arrive, Noah is already there, along with a guy with impressively tall hair, and Blue Sargent, Ronan’s least favourite barista from the coffee shop Adam works at. She dislikes Ronan on principle, probably, and when she sees him, she looks just as angry as she does whenever he comes into the shop.

“Maggot,” he greets her.

“Shithead,” she replies. “Hey, I can call you that now and not get fired.”

“They wouldn’t fire you. Calling Lynch a shithead is just calling a spade a spade,” Adam says. Ronan’s still mad at him, so he doesn’t even smile a little bit. Not at all.

“Oh, Ronan, this is Henry Cheng,” Gansey is saying.

“Ah, the infamous Ronan Lynch, we meet at last,” Henry says. “I see you won’t have to worry about paintball helmets messing up your hair.”

“Right, are we all going to be on the same team?” Gansey asks. The groups of strangers are dividing into two halves ahead of them.

“Fuck no. It’s more fun to shoot people you know,” says Sargent. Ronan doesn’t want to agree with her, but he does.

“I want Lynch,” says Adam. Ronan’s stomach does a backflip, and he curses it. Adam’s smirking at him again.

“Okay, but then you get Henry, you can’t have three people who are good,” Sargent says.

“Hey, I’m good!” Henry protests.

“Oh please, last time we came, you shot yourself more times than you shot anyone else.”

“Don’t you want to be on the same team as Gansey?” Ronan asks Adam.

“Absolutely not, I want revenge.” Adam’s laughing at Gansey as he says it.

“Adam…” Gansey whines. “I said sorry!” There’s clearly a story there that Ronan doesn’t know, and quite frankly, he doesn’t want to.

They collect their equipment and then the two teams split up, each side heading in a different direction, both trudging uphill until they’re either side of a valley in the woods. On the walk, Henry trips over a tree root and makes a complaint about how the camo protective vest doesn’t suit him.

“Do you think it would be kinder just to shoot him ourselves?” Adam murmurs to Ronan.

Ronan snorts. “Watch out, he might shoot you for suggesting that.”

“I’d be more worried if he was aiming for the person next to me.”

“He might be, if you stay next to me.”

“I just might,” Adam says. Ronan doesn’t think his stomach ache is from the anticipation of the paintball game.

When the game starts though, he loses Adam and Henry immediately. He’s running through the wood, looking for the blue of the other team’s helmets and not giving a thought to who he might actually be shooting at.

There’s a clearing at the bottom of the valley, and it has to be crossed to get to the other team’s base to steal their flag. Ronan waits by a tree for his moment; he’s breathing hard and his heart is pumping with adrenaline. He watches members of the blue team dart out of the trees and get shot in the middle of the clearing. There’s a platform up a tree near Ronan, with a ladder leading up to it and someone is on the platform, picking off the opposing team like a sniper.

Ronan kind of wants a piece of that and so he climbs the ladder. Adam’s at the top, he fires off three more shots before he turns around.

“Fuck Parrish, you’re fucking ruthless.”

Ronan can see Adam’s excited grin through his helmet. “Get the fuck down Lynch, you’re blowing my cover.”

“I’d blow more than your cover.” It’s an automatic response, a quick reaction to the perfect set up of a ridiculous double entendre and Ronan is immediately horrified he’s said it. Adam doesn’t look horrified though, Adam fucking _winks_ at him. Ronan wants to throw himself off the platform.

Instead he says, “I’m going for it. Cover me.”

“Your funeral,” he hears Adam call to him as he practically leaps down the entire ladder. He runs across the clearing and the whole time he’s chanting _what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck_ to himself. He kind of hopes he does get shot and if he does, he hopes it’s Gansey and if it’s Gansey, he hopes it _hurts._

He does get shot and it does hurt. He gets shot right up the inside of his left thigh and it hurts so bad he actually falls over. It’s not Gansey though, it’s Sargent. She comes out from behind a tree and she looks so fucking pleased with herself. Ronan picks up his gun and shoots her in the chest out of spite. It doesn’t count, but the outrage on her face is worth it, even through the helmet.

Ronan has to pick himself up and walk back through the safety zone to the red team’s base in disgrace. The game doesn’t last much longer though and to his absolute shock, the red team wins. But then when Adam is the one who turns up at the base with the blue team’s flag, he’s not so shocked any more.

They play a few more games and Ronan focuses on getting revenge on Sargent. The objective is to wipe out the whole opposing team, and when Ronan sees her run out from behind the stack of tyres she’s been camped behind, he fires. He would’ve got her too, if Gansey hadn’t dived in front to take the pellets of bright orange paint for her. Ronan’s even more annoyed when Sargent is the last one left at the end of the game.

They finish up and Adam grabs his arm on the way back down the hill. His helmet is pushed back on his head and he’s got paint splattered across his face like rainbow freckles. Ronan wants to lick him. And then he starts berating himself for thinking it.

“I got shot in the ass,” Adam tells him. “It’s going to hurt every time I sit down.”

Ronan squashes every inappropriate thought that pops into his head. “I’m sure Gansey’ll kiss it better,” he says, sullenly.

Adam splutters. “What? Why would Gansey do that? Do you think--,” But he stops talking abruptly when they meet back up with the others. Ronan’s not even sure he heard what Adam said correctly, there are a lot of people around.

*

Adam’s in the apartment again when Ronan comes back from church, the morning after paintball. He can hear Gansey clattering about in his bedroom, but Adam’s in the main room, reading on the couch. He stands up when Ronan walks in.

Ronan’s walking to his room when he’s stopped by Adam saying his name.

“Yeah?”

Adam’s clearly mulling something over. He arrives at his conclusion, and then says to Ronan, “Do you wanna go out for a drink, with me?”

A whole discordant bunch of synapses fire off in Ronan’s brain. He doesn’t know what the hell Adam is asking, or why. Adam’s just asking him as a friend. Because he’s Gansey’s boyfriend and being friends with your boyfriend’s roommate is normal. Going out for drinks just the two of you is normal. But does he trust himself alone with Adam? He should definitely say no. Adam’s looking at him expectantly and Ronan realises this is a really long time to go without speaking when someone asks you a question.

“Yeah, okay.” That’s not what he thought he was going to say but his mouth is apparently working on a separate circuit to his sense of self-preservation. “Gansey’s always saying we should hang out more.”

Adam looks a bit puzzled at that, but Ronan doesn’t get why. Gansey is always on at Ronan to hang out with Adam, and Adam was the one who suggested it, so Gansey must be saying the same to him.

“Okay, I can do next Thursday night, does that work for you?” At Ronan’s nod, he continues. “Great, I’ll pick you up at like, 7? I’ve gotta run now, but I’ll see you.” He smiles properly at Ronan and then leaves without even saying goodbye to Gansey which baffles Ronan even more.

*

“Oh, you’re going out?” Gansey says to him, at quarter to seven on Thursday evening.

“Did Adam not tell you we were going out?” Why would Adam have not said anything to Gansey?

Gansey looks thrilled though. “That’s so great! Have a good night!” And then he _winks_ at Ronan which is a really weird thing to do when your best friend is going out with your boyfriend, even if you’re not Gansey.

*

Ronan feels like he’s definitely missing something. Like everyone else is on some joke that he’s missed both the set up and the punchline to. When Adam comes to pick him up, he barely speaks to Gansey, just says hi and bye. And then they drive in Adam’s car to a bowling alley, which is not what Ronan was expecting.

“You’re taking me bowling, Parrish? Have you got a checklist of high school weekend activities you need to complete?”

“There’s a bar here, asshole. We’re going for a drink.”

“So, you’re gonna get me drunk and then kick my ass at bowling? Some date you are.” He means it as a joke, obviously, but he hopes his tone doesn’t betray how badly he wishes this were a date.

Adam chuckles. “No, you’re going to kick _my_ ass at bowling, probably, and _then_ I’m going to get your drunk so you forget how terrible I was.”

The more he tries to forget that he’s not on a date with Adam, because _oh my God, he’s Gansey’s boyfriend and you’re a terrible person,_ the more he can’t forget it. It doesn’t help that the bowling alley is packed with couples who clearly are on dates. There’s a little voice in his head that’s chanting _‘going to hell, going to hell, going to hell,’_ over and over. But then they do get a bowling lane, and Ronan gets a beer and he just kind of. Forgets.

It doesn’t help that Adam is making all sorts of snide comments about the guys in the lanes either side of them, showing off in front of their dates. And then after about two frames, Ronan realises that Adam, wasn’t kidding. He is absolutely _appalling_ at bowling. The balls hit the gutter more times than they hit the pins and his technique is all over the place.

“Jesus Parrish, it’s a good thing you’re not trying to impress me. Didn’t you learn to bowl as part of your fancy Harvard degree?”

“It wasn’t part of the syllabus. Maybe I should’ve taken it extracurricular.” Every time he throws the ball, he crouches down for some reason and stares at it like he’s got psychic powers that will make the ball do his bidding. So far, his powers have been unsuccessful.

“Being able to bowl would be more impressive than all that shit you know about Babylon.” Ronan says, as he gets his third strike in row.

And that is when Adam starts to resort to dirty tactics. Right as Ronan bends over to pick up his ball, Adam fucking wolf-whistles at him. He knows it’s nothing, but Ronan’s so distracted by it, that he screws up his next shot and only hits two pins, ruining his streak.

Next frame when Ronan’s lining up to throw, Adam creeps up behind him and sticks his wet finger in Ronan’s ear. It’s so disgusting and Ronan completely freaks out, then throws the ball so hard it bounces into the next lane. He gets a strike over there, but he’s pretty sure it won’t count. Also the douchebag bowling in that lane looks pissed.

Adam’s looking at him with wide-eyed faux innocence like the whole incident wasn’t entirely his fault. He’s still losing the game though, so Ronan starts giving him stupid ideas to get more points.

“Throw two balls at once!” he yells. Adam’s got that mischievous grin on again and he picks up a second ball with his left hand. He throws the one in his right hand first, then the one in his left. The one from his left hand is thrown much slower and consequently, the next events seem to happen in slow motion. The first ball knocks over a few pins, then the lane mechanism starts to clear away the fallen pins. The clamp picks up the pins that are still standing, the barrier descends to sweep away the fallen pins, and the second ball smashes right into it.

“You’re meant to throw them at the same time, dumbass!” They’re getting disapproving looks from the other people in the lanes either side of them, but Adam is sat on the floor fucking wheezing with laughter and Ronan has never cared less what other people think. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Ronan steps over where Adam has fallen to the floor and picks up a bowling ball in each hand. Unfortunately, he hadn’t considered that Adam’s second ball was still rolling about in the lane and so when he throws his balls, one of them glances off Adam’s and sends it spinning into the gutter. His two balls are now on a collision course with one another and they bang together with a sharp _crack!_ that echoes across the entire alley. Everyone is looking at them now. Adam’s got his face buried in his hands, but he’s shaking with laughter. “Oh, fuck,” Ronan says.

They don’t actually get kicked out of the bowling alley, but they do get asked “to vacate the bowling area and take their drinks to the bar.” Ronan almost wishes they’d been kicked out, it makes it a much better story.

“Look, you didn’t need to almost get us thrown out just because you can’t stand not being able to do something.”

“Me!” Adam cries. “Who was the one who suggested throwing two balls?”

“You didn’t have to actually do it,” Ronan points out. “Honestly, how can someone who’s so good at paintball be so terrible at bowling. All I hear from Gansey is how wonderful Adam Parrish is. Wait until he finds out you can’t bowl and you nearly got us thrown out because you didn’t want to lose!”

“It was your fault!” They’re sat in a little curved booth in the corner of the bar and Adam sits so close to him that their thighs are pressed together.

“Who’s he going to believe though? I never lie.” And then Ronan just feels sick because he’s remembered Gansey again and that this amazing guy is _Gansey’s boyfriend._ Ronan wants to move away from him a bit, but he doesn’t want Adam to think he’s got a _problem_ with him. But then he also doesn’t want Adam to know he _likes_ him.

Adam must sense his awkwardness because he changes the subject. “What do you actually do?”

“What do you mean?”

“For money? In the day, or at night?” Adam’s asking if he has a job. Clearly Ronan is not a popular topic of conversation between him and Gansey.

Ronan snorts. “Fuck all. I’m a trust fund baby.”

Adam rolls his eyes. “Urgh, I should’ve known. Of course, Gansey’s friend from his preppy high school is the worst type of human.”

“Hey, you’re dating a trust fund baby, what does that make you?”

“I suppose I am.” Adam smiles at him then, all warm and sunny. He’s probably thinking of Gansey. Ronan takes a huge gulp of beer.

“But where do you go during the day?” Adam asks.

“Country club.” Ronan raises a sardonic eyebrow.

Adam sniggers. “They won’t be too happy to hear you got half thrown out of a bowling alley then. But I suppose you can just bribe them to let you back in.”

“Yeah, I’ll send my monkey butler down in the morning.”

Adam grins at that. Then he asks, “Seriously though?”

Ronan takes a breath. He’s not embarrassed, exactly, it’s just this is something he doesn’t really tell a lot of people. “I volunteer at a fucking bird sanctuary.” _Jesus, Lynch, was the swearing necessary?_

Adam looks at him for a second, like he can’t tell if he’s joking or not, and then just starts laughing anyway. He’s giggling into the back of his hand and Ronan almost sniffs Adam’s coke to check there isn’t secretly alcohol in it.

“Oh my God, you’re being serious. That just really isn’t what I thought you were going to say! I thought it would be something edgy, like drag racing.”

“Nah, I do that at night. Why are the birds not cool? This scar,” he points to the one on his forehead, “is from a bald eagle.”

Adam’s still laughing at him though, mirth glowing in his deep blue eyes. “I’m sure it is,” he says. Adam’s been smiling that fucking amazing smile all evening and Ronan is so incredibly fucked.

*

They drive back to Ronan’s apartment and when he gets out the car, Adam follows. He’s standing in the doorway to the apartment building, fumbling around for his keys and Adam is _right there,_ practically pressed against his side. Ronan looks at him and Adam’s watching him right back. Adam’s tongue flicks out to wet his bottom lip and Ronan can’t stop looking at how it glistens in the glow of the orange security light. Adam’s looking at him expectantly, like he’s waiting for Ronan to do something. But Ronan can’t think what, can’t think of anything but – Gansey.

“Gansey! You want to come up and see Gansey?” Ronan says, too loud in the quiet night.

Adam gapes at him for a second and Ronan doesn’t know what to make of that. Then Adam says, “Nah, this was fun, but I’ll call it a night.” He looks at Ronan with this weirdly disappointed face and then he just drives off in his shitty multicoloured car, leaving Ronan to wonder what the fuck just happened.

*

“I’m going on a date tonight.” Gansey looks like an excited puppy. Ronan doesn’t know why tonight warrants so much more excitement than when he normally goes out with Adam. He’s dressed nicer as well, button up shirt instead of his usual lurid polo. Maybe tonight’s a _special night._ Fuck, Ronan hates his life.

“Great,” is all he says.

“Adam’s going to come by later,” Gansey continues. He’s rushing around the apartment, trying to find his car keys.

“Well obviously.” Ronan wants this conversation to be over.

“Are you going to be in?”

“I was gonna be, but I can go out.” _Fuck,_ he thinks. Gansey’s never asked him to be out before. Maybe they have _plans._ The mental image that thought creates makes Ronan feel all sorts of conflicting feelings that he doesn’t want to acknowledge.

“No, no. Adam’s going to come by to pick up some books and he doesn’t have a key, you need to be in. Please. I hope that’s not too much trouble.”

Wait, what?

“Where are you gonna be?” Ronan says.

“On my date, I told you. I really have to go Ronan. I’ll see you later!”

The door slams behind Gansey. Ronan is so beyond bewildered. Was Gansey going on date with someone who _wasn’t Adam?_ _Fuck,_ is it not enough that Gansey has Adam, and now he’s going on a date with _someone else._

Ronan’s so mad. He’s mad at Gansey for _cheating_ , he’s mad at Adam for dating Gansey in the first place and he’s mad himself for getting mad about it because it’s _none of his business._

There’s a treadmill in their apartment, a barely used relic from one of Gansey’s anxiety-induced spending sprees. Ronan clears the books and other assorted junk off it and runs and runs until he can’t feel his legs anymore. He’s got his big noise-cancelling headphones on, so he doesn’t hear that there’s someone hammering on the apartment door until a break between aggressive, electronic songs.

He turns off the treadmill and stomps to the door. He throws it open and Adam is on the other side. It’s been raining and he’s drenched.

“What the fuck, man? What’s your problem?” he snaps at Ronan.

He’s clearly in a shitty mood too. Ronan thinks about telling him, ‘ _you know your boyfriend’s on a date with someone else,’_ but some weird fucked up sense of loyalty to Gansey stops him. He’s not going to let Gansey get away with doing this, but he’s not gonna be the one to tell Adam.

Adam, who has pushed past Ronan into the apartment, looks back at him. He’s been saying something; Ronan hasn’t got a clue what, but from the tone of his voice it was prickly. Ronan’s been running on the treadmill for nearly an hour and, stupidly, he’s wearing jeans. His shirt is probably see-through with sweat and he knows he looks pissed off. He could not care less right now what Adam is talking about.

“Did Gansey not tell you I was coming?” Adam snaps at him. He looks like he’s getting ready for a fight. “Look, man, I don’t know what the fuck your problem is with me, but you’re clearly important to Gansey. I thought we had a good time the other night, but if this isn’t gonna work then you should just be a grown up and tell me straight. I gotta tell you though that I’m not going anywhere in terms of my relationship with Gansey.”

That really pisses Ronan off and he snaps. “You know Gansey’s on a date with someone else.” He puts as much venom into his voice as he can. So much for not being the one to tell Adam.

He expects Adam to look shocked, or hurt, but instead he just frowns, like Ronan has spoken in a foreign language. “Why is that relevant? This is about you and me.”

“Aren’t you angry?” Ronan doesn’t understand what it’s got to do with _him._

Adam doesn’t look angry with Gansey, he just looks generally irritated. He then says, slowly, “Why would I care? He’s on a date with Blue.”

Ronan goes from 100 to 0 in about two seconds. “You know.”

“Yeah, he’s been trying to ask her out for ages. Apparently, he made a bad first impression, implied she was a sex worker, so she kept saying no. Sacrificing himself for her in paintball was all it took,” Adam says. He looks just as confused by this conversation as Ronan does.

“And you’re okay with that? You don’t care?”

Adam narrows his eyes and replies, “why would I?”

Then it dawns on Ronan. “Wait, is this like a polyamory thing? Is that what this is?” He feels slightly hysterical, maybe he should have some water.

Adam’s face flickers through about eight different emotions and then he finally says, “You’re unbelievable, Lynch.” He grabs the books off of Gansey’s desk and leaves without another word.

Ronan stands in the middle of the apartment, sweat crusting on his skin, wondering what the fuck just happened.

*

It’s almost midnight when Gansey gets back from his date. He looks flushed and happy and Ronan almost can’t be mad at him. Almost.

“I know it’s none of my fucking business. But just tell me what the hell is going on. Because I know you don’t cheat, and I know you wouldn’t do that to Adam. And if this is some sort of polyamory thing then I will totally try to be understanding. But Adam’s so…” He makes a forceful hand gesture that he hopes conveys everything that is _Adam Parrish._ “I thought you were happy together. I don’t understand why that’s not enough for you.”

Gansey looks completely blindsided and Ronan’s almost sorry for ruining his good mood. There are a few seconds when Gansey looks hurt and upset, but then suddenly his worry clears, like the sun coming out.

“Do you… do you think I’m dating Adam?” Gansey’s looking at him incredulously.

The bottom drops out of Ronan’s stomach.

“Are you not?”

“No… Adam’s my friend.”

“But you talk about him all the time and you hang out with him all the time and he’s always in our apartment, in your room. You don’t do that with any of your other friends.”

“I do that with you.”

“That’s fucking different.”

“And it’s different with Adam, that doesn’t mean we’re dating. Is this why you’ve been so shitty?”

“Fuck you, I have not been shitty. What, I’m not allowed to be mad that there was this really hot, smart guy hanging out in my apartment all the time but that was only because he was dating my best friend?”

“Except we weren’t dating. Oh my God, Ronan. This isn’t a joke is it? You really thought I was dating Adam? You really thought that I’d just started dating a guy, even though I’d never shown any interest in men before?” Gansey’s got a fistful of his own hair, like he’s the one who’s just had a bomb dropped on him.

“Well, it’s Adam.” He doesn’t mean to sound so pathetic.

“Oh Ronan.”

“God Gansey, I was fucking devasted that you were dating him. Even if you broke up, I wouldn’t have been able to do that to you, to date your ex. I’ve spent the past like, three months cursing my own shitty luck that you met him first. And then cursing myself even more for liking _your boyfriend_ so damn much.”

“Ronan! Why did you never say anything?”

“What would you have done? It’s not like you’d just go, oh, you like my boyfriend, well here you go, you can date him instead. I’d’ve stopped liking him eventually, or I’d’ve fucking, run away to Canada.”

“Well, the good news is, I was never dating him in the first place. I’m relieved that we had this conversation before you _ran away to Canada_. I had no idea you thought this, especially after you went out on that date with him.”

“That was a date?” Another nuclear explosion of a revelation. Ronan has never felt more like a complete dumbass in his life.

Gansey’s looking at him like he’s thinking the same, that Ronan is a complete dumbass. “Did he not make that clear?”

“I’m so fucking stupid. He did. I’ve fucked it all up though. He was here before and I think I may have implied that he was trying to get us to join like, a polyamorous sex cult.” Ronan cringes at his own words. It’s not exactly what he said, but he knows how Adam took it.

“Oh _Ronan.”_

*

He doesn’t know what he’s going to say to Adam. _Sorry_ is probably a good bet, but it’s not one that appears in Ronan’s vocabulary very often. He goes to the coffee shop anyway, feeling guilty for bringing his shit to Adam’s work, but he doesn’t know when else he’s going to be able to speak to him. At least here, Adam can’t actually run away.

Adam looks up when Ronan pushes through the door, and when he sees him, Adam freezes. Ronan immediately wants to turn around and leave, but Sargent’s looking at him like she’s got the paintball gun under the counter and will shoot him if he even tries it. She probably doesn’t, if she did, she’d probably shoot him regardless.

“I’m going on my break,” Adam tells her; maybe he can run away. He doesn’t look like he’s going to run though. He’s actually grinning and biting on his lip like he’s been told something hilarious and then told not to laugh about it. When he sits down in an empty booth at the back of the shop, he gestures to Ronan to come over.

Ronan sits opposite, and Adam says, “so, I heard from Gansey that we need to talk.” Adam still looks like he’s trying not to laugh. Ronan doesn’t really get what’s so funny. This is the most embarrassed he’s ever been and the stupidest he’s ever felt.

“Yeah, we do,” he says as seriously as he can. “I wanted to say—"

But he doesn’t get any further because Adam finally cracks and starts laughing so hard that the table between them shakes.

“You thought--,” Adam manages to get out. “You thought I was dating Gansey.” And then he fucking starts laughing again and Ronan just doesn’t know what to do.

“I don’t think it’s that funny,” he says to Adam.

“No, no, it is. You thought I was dating Gansey! This explains so much. Wow, you must think I’m a genuinely terrible person.”

“I don’t think that.” Ronan feels bewildered.

“Ronan, I have literally been flirting with you for months. Did you think I was just that much of an asshole that I’d flirt with my boyfriend’s roommate in front of my boyfriend?” He’s still sniggering.

Ronan doesn’t really know what to say to that. He’d been too caught up in trying not to flirt with his roommate’s boyfriend in front of his roommate. “I just thought that’s what you were like!”

“I asked you out, and you said yes! We went on a date Ronan.” Adam’s calmed down now, but he’s got tears of laughter in his eyes.

“Gansey said it was a date, last night. I didn’t know.”

“What did you think it was?” Adam says, with glee.

“I thought we were, like, hanging out, as friends.”

“Fuck, I really thought I’d blown it. I thought you weren’t into me. I kept going over and over it, wondering what I did wrong.”

“I’m definitely into you. That’s the problem.”

Adam rests his chin on one of his hands. He’s looking at Ronan in amazement. “Fuck, Ronan. And you were so mad last night because you thought Gansey was dating Blue behind my back?”

“Maybe.” Ronan doesn’t want to admit to anything. “Doesn’t explain why you were so shitty.”

“Maybe because I went on a date with a hot guy, had a great time and then when it ended, he didn’t even kiss me and then asked me if I’d come to his apartment to see _his roommate._ And then the next day, when I turn up at his apartment when _I know_ that said roommate is out, he leaves me standing in the rain for five minutes and then acts like a huge asshole.”

“It sounds bad when you put it like that. I just liked you so much and I didn’t want to hurt my best friend.”

“Liked?” Adam frowns at the past tense.

“Like! I really like you! I can’t believe how badly I fucked this up.”

“I’m willing to give it another chance. _If,_ you take me on a date that we’re both aware that we’re on.”

“Fucking obviously.”

“And that doesn’t involve getting thrown out of anywhere.”

“That just sounds boring.”

Adam snorts. “I’ve got to get back to work.” He stands up and Ronan acts before he can second guess himself.

He stands up too and stops Adam going back to the counter with a hand on his hip. “Hey,” he says and then kisses Adam. To his immense relief, Adam kisses him back. His lips are soft and gentle against Ronan’s. When Ronan pushes forward, and kisses him harder, Adam makes a tiny, desperate noise into the kiss. Ronan wants to keep kissing him, coffee shop full of customers be damned, but Adam pulls back too soon.

“I’m at work, Lynch.”

“I didn’t get to kiss you when it was appropriate. So, I thought I should do it now, when it’s inappropriate.”

“This once, I’ll allow it,” Adam says, and kisses him again.

*

“This is Blue, _we are dating._ ”

*

**Author's Note:**

> Every time Gansey introduces someone new to Ronan: “I am not dating this person.”
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought! I really appreciate kudos and comments! <333  
> I am also thinking about this fic from Adam's POV, because I think that would be equally hilarious (to me) to write.  
> I'm on Tumblr at [behindtheatlantic](https://behindtheatlantic.tumblr.com)! Once again, thanks for reading!!!


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